CLEVELAND – In remembrance of the 2010-11 N4A President, Dr. Gerald Gurney, the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) has renamed the N4A Research Award as the "Dr. Gerald S. Gurney Research Award." Gurney passed away Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022 at the age of 70.

"Dr. Gurney exhibited his advocacy for student-athletes and passion to move the industry forward through his research, and we felt there was no better way to honor Dr. Gurney's legacy than to rename the N4A Research Award as the 'Dr. Gerald S. Gurney Research Award,'" said N4A President Ashton Henderson, executive associate athletics director for championship resources at Michigan State University. "Dr. Gurney was a wealth of wisdom and a pioneer to our N4A ecosystem, and I am grateful his legacy will be forever etched within our association's history."

The Dr. Gerald S. Gurney Research Award is presented to raise awareness for the need for updated research on educating and serving student-athletes every year. Practitioners, scholars, and graduate students alike are encouraged to submit a paper for award consideration. Two (2) recipients are selected annually–one for student-athlete development and life skills and the other for all other research related to the profession.

Most recently, Gurney was a professor emeritus of academic affairs at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Prior to that role, he was an assistant professor of adult and higher education at OU, where he taught in the subject areas of athletics in higher education, athletics academic reform, and ethics in athletics. He previously served as a senior associate athletics director at Oklahoma from 1993-2011. Within OU's athletics department, Gurney oversaw academic services, sports medicine, and a comprehensive athletics student life center with an annual operating budget of $3 million.

The Dr. Gerald S. Gurney Research Award recipients will present on Tuesday, June 28, at Mandalay Bay Resort in conjunction with the N4A Convention.

About N4A: N4A, which has been in existence since 1975, is a diverse educational service and professional non-profit organization. Membership of N4A includes academic support and student services personnel who are committed to enhancing opportunities for academic, athletics and personal success for student-athletes. For more information on N4A, visit www.nfoura.org. N4A is administered by NACDA, which is in its 57th year. For more information on NACDA and the 18 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.